Chervonyi

The original title of this film is "Chervony" which is Ukrainian and means "Red". It's a Ukrainian film although much of the dialog is in Russian (and also other languages), but the main theme is the true account of conditions in a Stalin Gulag concentration camp for Ukrainians. It all happens after the war, many of the prisoners are war veterans, some having landed in this Gulag camp by mistake, but the important point that the film makes is that there was no difference between German and Russian concentration camps during the inhuman age of Hitler and Stalin. The brutality was the same, the recklessness of the guards and officers shooting down prisoners for nothing, while the only difference perhaps was that the Russian slave labour camps were more primitive, and there was vodka instead of brandy. The story is a great drama, it's not only about the main protagonist who introduces the film by arriving at the camp, but many of the prisoners of different groups and nationalities play important parts, and it's a great relief for once that in this (out of too many too brutal concentration camp films) there is a woman as one of the main characters. She is the medical doctor of the camp, and she survives, while many perish in general massacres. It's a cruel and brutal film but highly ambitious in being as true to reality as possible, and the cinematography is marvellous all the way through. So it is basically a very human drama with even some moments of poetry, idylls, beauty and romance, so no one should be deterred from watching it because of its downright and brutal realism.

In general, it's a great film. On the other hand, it requires a lot of special knowledge to be completely comprehended. If you don't originate from one of the post-Soviet states, you may not grasp it. A few tips to avoid the above-mentioned problems: GULAG camps were USSR forced labor camps for both usual and "political" criminals. UIA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army, UPA\УПА in Ukrainian)was an independent anti-Soviet nationalist armed entity active in 1942-early 1950's. All the GULAG camp prisoners were unofficially divided into three groups: "Black suit"(stems from cards)- usual criminals like murderers, burglars, thieves (with an exception for rapists, who were treated like garbage), who were following special unofficial criminal law (ponyatia\понятия in Russian). "Red suit" - also usual criminals like mentioned above, who decided to cooperate with camp administration (that automatically makes "Black suit" and "Red Suit" enemies). "Political prisoners" - who were imprisoned for political reasons had neutral relations with both "Suits", with an exception for the cases when "Red Suit" was informing camp administration about prisoner's plans to break the jail. I hope having this information in your mind may help you a lot. Enjoy the film! :)

Communism is without a doubt one of the most vile and evil ideologies ever constructed by man, the act of forcing upon others your ideologies, your thoughts, your rules. Your everything, and everyone being dependent on a state organ with a dictator on top.

Movies such as these shows the true nature of the threat, of and what such an ideology has led to in the past, and will unfortunately lead to once again due to severe ignorance and a huge lack of education in the modern world.

Chervonyi comes highly recommended, very realistic, superb acting by all the parts, Russians and Ukrainians. I also feel it is important to say that Russia today isn't this vile Communist evil it once was, they're normal every day people today. However Communism still exists as does other vile evil ideologies.

Let Chervonyi be a historical lesson and warning for what such evil people would do to the regular populace if they would ever seize power once again.

10/10.

While the English language dubbing could have been done much better this is, in general, a good contemporary Ukrainian-made film, based on the true story of Ukrainian nationalist resistance inside the Soviet concentration camp system known as the GULAG. The main character, a captured member of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) leads a successful revolt against the brutal camp commandant and his minions - this is a gritty film indeed but well worth seeing and is now available on Amazon Prime. Recommended.